The beginning of a new stage is useful in that people get the opportunity to think about their past and future actions. That is to say, they get the opportunity to say, “Well, I had these flaws in the year that went by, so I will start eliminating these flaws in the new year.” This affects all aspects of life.

I believe the most important thing that people should think about is their relationship with God. At the beginning of each new year, people should tell themselves, “Last year and the previous years are gone, and there is nothing I can do about them, but now a new stage has started.” We should define a new relationship with Allah the Exalted, proactively and retroactively. The proactive aspect is related to committing sins. People get used to committing certain sins, and they do not realize the importance of those sins. If they stop to think about these sins, they will notice them in their behavior and their actions. Of course people give themselves the benefit of the doubt. People do not usually suspect themselves. Unfortunately human beings justify their actions, but it is not impossible to critically evaluate one’s actions. Allah the Exalted has provided us with the ultimate proof. If we look carefully, we can identify our flaws. Human beings have an inner voice which is honest with them. If they refer to their inner voice, their flaws will be revealed to them.

Well, human beings get used to certain sins. They underestimate the significance of certain sins. This is one of the things that can be done in the new year. One can think of a way to reduce the number of the sins one commits by writing them down.

If I remember correctly, I read the biography of Shahid Afshordi last year or the year before. It was mentioned in the biography that Shahid Afshordi used to write down his mistakes every day. Ulama of ethics and certain traditions recommend that we write down our mistakes. We are advised to evaluate ourselves every night. Shahid Afshordi used to write down these things. People like us cannot do so: our self-esteem cannot take this although nobody else is supposed to see what we write down. For example, he used to write in his notes, “I committed these sins today.”

Self-evaluation is a very good thing. It is necessary to evaluate oneself and then reduce one’s sins one by one. We are used to committing certain sins. Sometimes one may be used to committing 5, 6, 10 sins. We should try to eliminate these sins one by one. We should try to reduce the weak points one by one.

The same is true about the retroactive aspect. I believe if we start with daily prayers, many of the problems will be automatically solved. This is because daily prayers are very important. One should perform daily prayers in an appropriate and attentive manner. Being attentive during daily prayers means paying careful attention to what one says and thinks about. One should not perform one’s daily prayers without paying attention to the meaning of what one says. For example, I am speaking to you, and you are listening. I am aware that my audience is listening to my speech. The same thing should be true about praying: we must believe that God is listening to us. I believe that a person can get closer to God even if he does not at all understand the meaning of what he says during praying – he should just be aware that he is speaking to God. The Commander of the Faithful (a.s.) said, “Daily prayers are a means for every pious man to get closer to God.” People like us may know the meaning and interpretation of everything said during daily prayers, and we may have read several books about daily prayers, but we may still fail to pay attention to the meaning of what we say during daily prayers. As the poet Saeb says, during praying some people think about anything except God, and sometimes they remember what they have misplaced.

Performing daily prayers in an attentive manner – that is to say, paying attention to the fact that we are speaking to God – is a good start. The same is true about performing one’s daily prayers on time. The same is true about congregational prayers and nawafil [prayers which are not obligatory]. This way one can gradually change one’s life. Each new year can bring about such auspicious things if we try to make the best of it.

Beyond these things, we can use our job to get closer to God. Each of us has a responsibility to fulfill. Each of us has a job. The more carefully we do our job and the more we try to make our job serve a divine cause, the more the benefits will be.

(Supreme Leader’s Speech to Cultural and Political Figures -12/04/2011)

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